This invention relates to a music playing device wherein a music composition member and a sound producing means are provided in movable relation to each other to produce music when either the music composition member or the sound producing means is moved in relation to the other; the music composition member having a pattern of lines and apertures, and pins that can be selectively arranged in the pattern of lines and apertures to resemble musical notes.
There are a great number of music playing devices, particularly music playing toys, in which a melody is produced by a motorized mechanism. The fun and joy such conventional musical devices provide is very limited as they can normally produce only one melody automatically. Some known devices permit a variety of melodies, such as that disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,575, in which a removable rotator having a plurality of fixedly arranged protursions is provided to activate a sound producing means when the rotator is caused to rotate, so as to enable a selection of melodies to be played by the device by replacing the rotator with another having a different arrangement of protrusions. In such known devices, however, the melodies have been previously composed or predetermined. If one wishes to play a melody of one's own composition, the above-mentioned conventional musical devices can not be used.
The present invention therefore offers a musical device having a music composition member to cooperate with a sound producing means to produced a melody that may be composed by the player.